Zion to Hornets for Draft Capital

[Rich4114]

I suspect NOLA is about fed up on Zion and his lack of availability. Hornets need to find a way to add top 50-60 talent around LaMelo and Miller. It's a big risk, especially considering the injury history the Hornets have on their roster as well. But what would it take to move Zion to Charlotte?

At the deadline, including Miles Bridges and Nick Richards works from a salary perspective. Pre-deadline, it gets messy as it need like 5 players to match Zion's contract, though a 3rd team could be brought in to help facilitate.

What draft capital would it cost though? Hornets owe their 1st non-lottery to SAS (surely to be lottery) which means it conveys to two seconds. After that, they have their own in 25 (lottery only) and all future picks plus Miami 2027 and Dallas (top 2 protected )2027. They have a plethora of seconds as well including NOLA's this year ironically.

[HornetJail]

My best offer is Salaun, Mavs pick, expirings, 2nds. I'm not willing to gamble the Heat pick as I think they could be on a slow steady decline leading to them conveying a 2028 top 10 pick.

Melo/Miller/Bridges/Zion/Mark + Mann/Green/Jeffries/Grant Williams/Diabate

maybe we get lucky and all of them manage to stay healthy for one playoff push sometime. that's more hope than this franchise has had since the Baron Davis era.

I doubt it's enough for NOLA, but I'd dangle it and hope that the Pelicans also happened to see a future NBA player in Tidjane Salaun

[JustBuzzin]

My best offer is Salaun, Mavs pick, expirings, 2nds. I'm not willing to gamble the Heat pick as I think they could be on a slow steady decline leading to them conveying a 2028 top 10 pick.

Melo/Miller/Bridges/Zion/Mark + Mann/Green/Jeffries/Grant Williams/Diabate

maybe we get lucky and all of them manage to stay healthy for one playoff push sometime. that's more hope than this franchise has had since the Baron Davis era.

I doubt it's enough for NOLA, but I'd dangle it and hope that the Pelicans also happened to see a future NBA player in Tidjane Salaun

You have to match salaries bro?

[HornetJail]

My best offer is Salaun, Mavs pick, expirings, 2nds. I'm not willing to gamble the Heat pick as I think they could be on a slow steady decline leading to them conveying a 2028 top 10 pick.

Melo/Miller/Bridges/Zion/Mark + Mann/Green/Jeffries/Grant Williams/Diabate

maybe we get lucky and all of them manage to stay healthy for one playoff push sometime. that's more hope than this franchise has had since the Baron Davis era.

I doubt it's enough for NOLA, but I'd dangle it and hope that the Pelicans also happened to see a future NBA player in Tidjane Salaun

You have to match salaries bro?

we have plenty of expendable contracts- Micic, Martin, Richards, Taj plus Salaun should cover it... the players probably go to 2-3 different teams so NOLA doesn't have to cut a bunch of players. We're not losing anything we couldn't replace in free agency tomorrow.

[JMAC3]

This feels too cheap for Zion, so even if New Orleans was open to selling him this low then that would be a red flag to me that he might be cooked. He might be the trickest player in the entire league when it comes to trade value because when he plays he is pretty great, but he misses a lot of time and it seems like a wide array of lower body injuries.

Rookie- Torn Meniscus (played 24 games)
Year 2 - (played 61 games)
Year 3- Jones foot fracture- missed whole year
Year 4 - Hamstring Injury (29 games played)
Year 5 - 70 games played but injured hamstring again and missed playoffs
Year 6 - Has played 6 games, still issues with Hamstring.

[jbk1234]

If N.O. would take Miles back, and I'm a little skeptical, the Hornets should definitely send him as it will be difficult to have him, Zion, and Ball on the floor together.

[Texas Chuck]

Hornets should definitely be looking to take this kind of gamble. The outs in his contract mean the risk is plenty low.

I do think you have to give New Orleans an asset with real upside though. No point in trading him for the disaster that is Bridges and low level assets or bleh expirings and low level assets.

You need a pick with little to no protections or a prospect with real upside(Hornets don't have one since Miller wouldn't be on the table).

[babyjax13]

Saluan + 2025 CHA pick (if lottery) that becomes the 2026 CHA pick if not seems like the right amount of additional compensation to me. It gives New Orleans some decent assets while also letting them move on from this hell.

[HornetJail]

Saluan + 2025 CHA pick (if lottery) that becomes the 2026 CHA pick if not seems like the right amount of additional compensation to me. It gives New Orleans some decent assets while also letting them move on from this hell.

Nah there's no chance I trade even a long-shot opportunity at Flagg/Harper/Bailey to New Orleans at this point. That's where I pass.

[babyjax13]

Saluan + 2025 CHA pick (if lottery) that becomes the 2026 CHA pick if not seems like the right amount of additional compensation to me. It gives New Orleans some decent assets while also letting them move on from this hell.

Nah there's no chance I trade even a long-shot opportunity at Flagg/Harper/Bailey to New Orleans at this point. That's where I pass.

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

[Texas Chuck]

Saluan + 2025 CHA pick (if lottery) that becomes the 2026 CHA pick if not seems like the right amount of additional compensation to me. It gives New Orleans some decent assets while also letting them move on from this hell.

Nah there's no chance I trade even a long-shot opportunity at Flagg/Harper/Bailey to New Orleans at this point. That's where I pass.

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

I just don't think New Orleans bites at that point. For all the injury and ugh around Zion, there is still an elite offensive force in there. Do they really give up the possibility that returns for a package with very little upside at all?

Maybe that's all you can get, but I bet there is still a team(and it should be Charlotte as one of them imo) willing to give more upside variance to get him. Especially since with the flatter lottery odds, no matter what your record is your chance at one of the top picks is lower.

I just think for a player like Zion, its too soon to settle for BCS of a mid lotto pick. What does that do for them exactly?

[Diop]

sums up why i dont expect Zion to be traded

[babyjax13]

Nah there's no chance I trade even a long-shot opportunity at Flagg/Harper/Bailey to New Orleans at this point. That's where I pass.

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

I just don't think New Orleans bites at that point. For all the injury and ugh around Zion, there is still an elite offensive force in there. Do they really give up the possibility that returns for a package with very little upside at all?

Maybe that's all you can get, but I bet there is still a team(and it should be Charlotte as one of them imo) willing to give more upside variance to get him. Especially since with the flatter lottery odds, no matter what your record is your chance at one of the top picks is lower.

I just think for a player like Zion, its too soon to settle for BCS of a mid lotto pick. What does that do for them exactly?

Gives them decent assets for a guy who seems like he will never be healthy.

[HornetJail]

Nah there's no chance I trade even a long-shot opportunity at Flagg/Harper/Bailey to New Orleans at this point. That's where I pass.

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

I just don't think New Orleans bites at that point. For all the injury and ugh around Zion, there is still an elite offensive force in there. Do they really give up the possibility that returns for a package with very little upside at all?

Maybe that's all you can get, but I bet there is still a team(and it should be Charlotte as one of them imo) willing to give more upside variance to get him. Especially since with the flatter lottery odds, no matter what your record is your chance at one of the top picks is lower.

I just think for a player like Zion, its too soon to settle for BCS of a mid lotto pick. What does that do for them exactly?

I don't think a 5th-9th pick (the likely result anyway) is nothing. It's still more than I'd give at this point, considering we're already built around two players with extensive injury histories in Melo and Mark. At this point Zion's value is more or less the willingness to devote $35M+ of your cap to having an interior force for some random amount of games between 15 and 50 per year and praying that you can still stay afloat in your games without him to get to the playoffs.

It hurts because I'm a massive fan of his when healthy, but I would likely turn down anything beyond the Salaun+Mavs 1st+2nds trade initially proposed. Might've been a little more willing to gamble more assets if we hadn't taken a wild flyer on Salaun this year (which I more or less see as punting the pick)

I wouldn't expect NOLA to make a trade like that unless they were straight up ready to waive him and save their cap.

[MasterIchiro]

It's a valiant effort by some Hornets fans here to shortsell the pink sheet that is Tidjane Salaun but get real. They are still drunk from the draft. He's a trainwreck with the ball in his hands for any significant amount of time. Bad things happen.

High motor. Potential range shooter. Capable defender but man, not if you can't create your own shot, suck at passing, suck at dribbling.

Suck, suck, sucky, suckity-suck stink bombs.

That said, man. Hornets don't need a win-now piece like Zion. LaMelo Ball & moreso Brandon Miller need to cook more. More experience. More reps sharing the court to build chemistry and grow the way Tatum & Brown did. Tatum was what, 27? LaMelo is just 23.

Let that third piece be an affordable contract.

Preferably pick 1 or 2.

I'm picky.

[jayjaysee]

NOP is owed more here. And Charlotte should pay more. Have to take a shot and Ball/Miller/Zion could work out great..

But I’d also just look at paying some value to turn Bridges into Ingram if they want a weak attempt at saving this season..

[louc1970]

Nah there's no chance I trade even a long-shot opportunity at Flagg/Harper/Bailey to New Orleans at this point. That's where I pass.

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

I just don't think New Orleans bites at that point. For all the injury and ugh around Zion, there is still an elite offensive force in there. Do they really give up the possibility that returns for a package with very little upside at all?

Maybe that's all you can get, but I bet there is still a team(and it should be Charlotte as one of them imo) willing to give more upside variance to get him. Especially since with the flatter lottery odds, no matter what your record is your chance at one of the top picks is lower.

I just think for a player like Zion, its too soon to settle for BCS of a mid lotto pick. What does that do for them exactly?

That is the conundrum. Does NOP have real trust in Jones and Murphy as leaders/stars or are they simply role players.
If they trust those 2, roll the dice.
For NOP to move Williamson it will take the Hornets best big - Mark Williams - youths Saluan, Mann and Green. Then 3 FRPs.
Seems high but Williamson despite injuries is an offensive force.

[KembaWalker]

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

I just don't think New Orleans bites at that point. For all the injury and ugh around Zion, there is still an elite offensive force in there. Do they really give up the possibility that returns for a package with very little upside at all?

Maybe that's all you can get, but I bet there is still a team(and it should be Charlotte as one of them imo) willing to give more upside variance to get him. Especially since with the flatter lottery odds, no matter what your record is your chance at one of the top picks is lower.

I just think for a player like Zion, its too soon to settle for BCS of a mid lotto pick. What does that do for them exactly?

That is the conundrum. Does NOP have real trust in Jones and Murphy as leaders/stars or are they simply role players.
If they trust those 2, roll the dice.
For NOP to move Williamson it will take the Hornets best big - Mark Williams - youths Saluan, Mann and Green. Then 3 FRPs.
Seems high but Williamson despite injuries is an offensive force.

That’s a massive overpay that would obviously never happen for Zion. The main appeal of Zion is adding him to a hypothetical front court with Mark Williams who can cover his weaknesses. Offering anything beyond Miles + filler and a couple non Hornets protected firsts is lunacy. Ball/Miller/Zion is intriguing but it’s not THAT intriguing. Pelicans of course are welcome to keep him and continue dealing with what he’s bringing to the franchise if they are enjoying it that much. Hornets have flexibility with their timelines rn. Bailing the Pelicans out of the Zion problem and taking it on your franchise is doing them a bigger favor than you think

[HornetJail]

Top 4 protect it through 2027 (or something to that effect)

I just don't think New Orleans bites at that point. For all the injury and ugh around Zion, there is still an elite offensive force in there. Do they really give up the possibility that returns for a package with very little upside at all?

Maybe that's all you can get, but I bet there is still a team(and it should be Charlotte as one of them imo) willing to give more upside variance to get him. Especially since with the flatter lottery odds, no matter what your record is your chance at one of the top picks is lower.

I just think for a player like Zion, its too soon to settle for BCS of a mid lotto pick. What does that do for them exactly?

That is the conundrum. Does NOP have real trust in Jones and Murphy as leaders/stars or are they simply role players.
If they trust those 2, roll the dice.
For NOP to move Williamson it will take the Hornets best big - Mark Williams - youths Saluan, Mann and Green. Then 3 FRPs.
Seems high but Williamson despite injuries is an offensive force.

if he was healthy, sure, I could go along with that as his value. He is, of course, nothing close to that.

[JMAC3]

My prediction is that any Zion trade is only going to happen once New Orleans is on the verge of waiving him. Once that happens I think they will still be able to get a first round pick for him because the new team really isn't taking on that much risk.